Art De Vany: Many Cultures, One Physiology

« Depth of the Energy Landscape | Main | Feeling Better »

Many Cultures, One Physiology

July 15, 2005 07:20 PM

Since we have people from 60 countries now reading the website I wanted to note the degree to which we share a common physiology even though our cultures, diet, and activities are different. Our beliefs, which are so prominent in our political ideologies and policies matter not in these more fundamental processes which are universal to culture, belief, political ideology, sex, ethnicity and all the other things that politicians and shallow political commentators try to sell as motivators of our actions and beliefs.

Current knowledge seems to place the source of our mitochondrial DNA to a single human female ancestor who lived some 70,000 to 120,000 years ago. The male source of our DNA is more obscure and may never be identified. Adam and Eve almost surely did not live together and probably did not live in the same time frame. The DNA sequences are stochastic and evolve from their own starting points, each line to its own, and where they may go no one can know (nobody knows anything, in the movies, or about these things).

There may have been a further narrowing of the human gene pool.

A volcanic winter, created by a huge volcanic eruption at Pinaturba, may have narrowed the human population to as few as 8 to 10 thousand individuals. Many of the recent theories of human physiology, the "thrifty gene", depend on a narrowing of the gene pool to make any sense.

Nonetheless, all living creatures share common features because they all evolved from earlier, Mitochondrial Eve-like ancestors.

In the broad, evolutionary context, our belief systems are recent additions, not tested for survival value. Many are wanting and are trivializations of the deeper insights of the religions that hold these beliefs.

The afterlife is one of these beliefs that has no value in the evolutionary context. If you believe you will propagate your genes in the afterlife, perhaps with 72 virgins, then you will not leave many genes behind to carry these ideas forward. And, you have no confidence that your offspring will carry these beliefs. Genes do not inspire beliefs, culture and ideology do. And in the evolutionary context, genes trump all else.

So, whatever your culture, belief, sex, or ideology may be, you share a common gene lineage to the most ancient humans and non-human creatures on the Earth. You don't have to go to Earth Day or any other celebration to know that this is true at the deepest level of your physiology and thought processes (which are physiologically- and experientially-based).

So, your genes do not encode a Maoist, a Communist, a Radical, or a Republican in your belief system. They are incapable of even encoding a Democrat.

One of my favorite semi-tests to my classes was to point out that we are all African Americans now. Of course, what this meant was that we were all descended about 100,000 years ago from a Mitochrondrial Eve in Africa. The use of hyphenated "Blank-American" or similarly in any other country or political taxonomy is hugely inaccurate from an evolutionary context. All the rest is a matter of political and economic advantage, which also have their roots in another leg of the evolutionary process.

I may have more to say in the future about the Evolutionarily Adept Politician who appeals to all our deepest and often irrational urges and unsubstantiated beliefs. We all believe only in ourselves at the fundamental level and these politicians who make us believe we will be Kings or Queens after they are elected tend to gather our votes. But, they will make us Serfs.

· Evolutionary Fitness

Comments

Posted by: Flower Online at September 12, 2006 3:43 AM

I'm not sure what "recent" means, but it would appear that belief in an afterlife permeated stone age tribal life. Burying the dead with trinkets and other object (perhaps even food), evidence of a priesthood, and studies of modern hunter-gatherer cultures suggest a type of animism where the spirit world was seen as an ever-present component of their exisistence.

Posted by: Fugate at July 18, 2005 5:43 AM

Fugate,

After rereading my post, I realized I may have overstepped my bounds.

Although I still think pieces of your post have high-flame potential, it's most definitely not my place, nor my intention, to quash open, honest discussion. And trying to control outcomes (or perceptions of what may occur based on a single post) is foolish indeed.

So please disregard my hand wringing.

Mike

Posted by: Mike Minium at July 17, 2005 4:05 PM

Fugate,

Please, let's not muddy the waters with your own ideological slant on the topic (however prevalent or not said slant may be amongst other readers of this blog--something I have no way of knowing. Uncertainty is a good thing, though).

Surely you're aware a statement like "Any culture that preys on its own young is doomed to extinction" has the potential to create a flame war, no?

Mike

Posted by: Mike Minium at July 17, 2005 3:02 PM

Many Cultures, One Physiology

July 15, 2005 07:20 PM

Comments

Post a comment